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      Trump reportedly wants to testify before January 6 committee – live

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      There are plenty of instances of former presidents testifying before congress, and in fact, even sitting presidents have done so, according to the US Senate.But such an appearance hasn’t been made in a while. The last former president to answer questions on Capitol Hill was Gerald Ford, who appeared before a Senate subcommittee on the constitution in 1983. He was also the last president in office to testify, during a 1974 House subcommittee hearing about his decision to pardon former president Richard Nixon for various charges related to the Watergate scandal.Up until January 6, historians viewed Watergate as perhaps the worst political scandal in American history. But the insurrection at the Capitol may well have eclipsed that – and Trump could follow in the footsteps of his predecessors and appear before lawmakers to discuss his role in it.While sitting and former presidents have testified before Congress in the past, Politico reports that subpoenaing a former commander in chief is far more contentious.In 1953, former president Harry Truman defied a subpoena from the infamous House Un-American Activities Committee. “It is just as important to the independence of the Executive that the actions of the President should not be subjected to questioning by the Congress after he has completed his term of office as that his actions should not be questioned while he is serving as President,” he said in a lengthy speech explaining his refusal to attend.The January 6 committee could, of course, go to court to force Trump to comply, assuming a judge – or more likely judges – agrees. But they simply don’t have the time. Their mandate expires at the end of the year, at the same time as this Congress terms out, and any court challenge would likely take months to resolve.Not all Trump administration scandals involve the former president. Stephanie Kirchgaessner reports a Senate committee leaders wants answers about a real estate property deal involving Jared Kushner, a top aide to the former president:A financial firm that operates billions of dollars in real estate properties around the world is facing new questions from the powerful chairman of the Senate finance committee about whether Qatar was secretly involved in the $1.2bn (£1bn) rescue of a Fifth Avenue property owned by Jared Kushner’s family while Kushner was serving in the White House.Ron Wyden, the Oregon Democrat who leads the finance committee, has given the chief executive of Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management until 24 October to answer a series of detailed questions about a 2018 deal in which Brookfield paid Kushner Companies for a 99-year lease on the family’s marquee 666 Fifth Avenue property.When the deal was announced in August 2018, it was seen as the end of a drawn-out saga surrounding the property. The rescue, it was said in media reports, generated enough money for the Kushner family to pay $1.1bn (£970m) of debt on the building and buy out a partner.In a statement on Thursday, Wyden accused Brookfield of stonewalling his committee and refusing to answer questions about the transaction, including whether Brookfield “intentionally misled” the public when it said that “no Qatar-linked entity” had been involved in the deal. In fact, it has since been alleged by Wyden that Brookfield used a Qatari-backed fund – called Brookfield Property Partners – to fund the transaction. At the time of the deal, Wyden said, the Qatari Investment Authority was the fund’s second largest investor.Top senator seeks answers over Qatar link to $1.2bn Kushner property rescueRead moreOne of the most gripping moments of the January 6 committee’s hearing yesterday came when the panel aired footage of congressional leaders scrambling for help after the Capitol was overrun. Here’s what the video showed:New footage of the January 6 riots at the US Capitol shows House speaker Nancy Pelosi calmly trying to take charge of the situation as she sheltered at Fort McNair, two miles south of the Capitol.“There has to be some way,” she told colleagues, “we can maintain the sense that people have that there is some security or some confidence that government can function and that you can elect the president of the United States.”Then an unidentified voice interjected with alarming news: lawmakers on the House floor had begun putting on teargas masks in preparation for a breach. Pelosi asked the woman to repeat what she said.‘Do you believe this?’: New video shows how Nancy Pelosi took charge in Capitol riotRead moreWhile Trump twice escaped conviction by Congress, The Guardian’s Sam Levine finds the evidence laid out by the January 6 committee could form the backbone of a criminal case against the former president:After more than a year of work that consisted of interviewing 1,000-plus witnesses and reviewing hundreds of thousands of documents, the committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol chose a simple message for its final public hearing: Donald Trump was singularly responsible for the attack.Since its first hearing in June, the committee’s work has been aimed at two audiences. One of those has been the broad American public. Tactfully using video, the committee has told a disciplined, clear story of what happened on January 6, and the days leading up to it, filled with jaw-dropping soundbites from Trump’s closest aides.But the committee’s public coda on Thursday appeared more directed at its second audience: an audience of one, the US attorney general, Merrick Garland.Garland will ultimately decide whether to bring criminal charges against Trump over January 6, and the committee’s work, which has run parallel to the justice department’s investigation, has made a public case for bringing charges, attempting to bring along public support for doing so.January 6 panel’s case against Trump lays out roadmap for prosecutionRead moreA new books argues that the way Democrats handled Trump’s first impeachment in 2019 laid the groundwork for the lawless streak he exhibited when he tried to overturn the following year’s elections, Politico reports.In “Unchecked,” written by Politico reporter Rachael Bade and Washington Post reporter Karoun Demirjian, House speaker Nancy Pelosi is shown as being caught between two wings of the Democratic party as it weighs how to respond to Trump’s pressuring of Ukraine’s government to investigate Joe Biden. One group, composed mostly of progressives, wanted a sprawling inquiry into all of the then-president’s alleged misdeeds, while another, made up of Democrats in vulnerable seats, wanted a narrowly tailored investigation into the Ukraine affair that wouldn’t take too long.The latter group won out, but according to the book, Pelosi missed opportunities to wrangle some Republicans into supporting Trump’s impeachment – though the book concedes the effort may well have been a long shot, even if she tried.The Senate ultimately acquitted Trump, and the book finds that decision emboldened Trump to attempt further schemes – like his plot to overturn the 2020 election. Here’s how Politico puts it:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}In the end, one political truism superseded all the others: What happens in January of an election year will be ancient history by the time voters cast ballots. This was especially true in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic seemed to emerge just as Democrats were licking their wounds from the impeachment trial acquittal.
      Soon after, Trump would begin sowing the seeds of what would become his effort to overturn defeat in the presidential election, and by November, impeachment seemed an asterisk in a year that had become chaotic for many other reasons.
      Ultimately, Democrats took the White House, even though Pelosi’s House majority shrank slightly after 2020. House managers of Trump’s first impeachment have insisted to this day that their existential warnings played a role in voters deeming him unfit for a second term.
      His actions to subvert his 2020 loss, they argue, were evidence that Republicans’ decision to acquit him had left him feeling unchecked.Trump hasn’t yet publicly said if he’d testify before the January 6 committee, as their subpoena compels him to.But his political action committee has today distributed to reporters this letter, dated yesterday and addressed to the committee’s chair. The 14-page epistle is mostly a rehash of his baseless theories that the 2020 election was stolen from him, and a defense of his conduct on January 6. It opens with this line: “THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2020 WAS RIGGED AND STOLEN!”It’s unclear if Trump himself wrote it, but based on the prose, it’s difficult not to imagine his voice when reading it. Consider the second sentence:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The same group of Radical Left Democrats who utilized their Majority position in Congress to create the fiction of Russia, Russia, Russia, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2, the $48 Million Mueller Report (which ended in No Collusion!), Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, the atrocious and illegal Spying on my Campaign, and so much more, are the people who created this Committee of highly partisan political Hacks and Thugs whose sole function is to destroy the lives of many hard-working American Patriots, whose records in life have been unblemished until this point of attempted ruination.There are plenty of instances of former presidents testifying before congress, and in fact, even sitting presidents have done so, according to the US Senate.But such an appearance hasn’t been made in a while. The last former president to answer questions on Capitol Hill was Gerald Ford, who appeared before a Senate subcommittee on the constitution in 1983. He was also the last president in office to testify, during a 1974 House subcommittee hearing about his decision to pardon former president Richard Nixon for various charges related to the Watergate scandal.Up until January 6, historians viewed Watergate as perhaps the worst political scandal in American history. But the insurrection at the Capitol may well have eclipsed that – and Trump could follow in the footsteps of his predecessors and appear before lawmakers to discuss his role in it.Good morning, US politics blog readers. Yesterday’s big news was that the January 6 committee had issued a subpoena to Donald Trump, in an attempt to compel the testimony of a man they say was responsible above all others for the deadly insurrection at the Capitol. You’d be right not to get your hopes up that the former president would honor their summons – he’s stymied various attempts to compel his behavior or hold him accountable over the years with lengthy court challenges, and the congressional subpoena seems like it could meet the same fate. But media outlets including the New York Times and Fox News report that Trump actually would like to speak to lawmakers – assuming he can do so live. We may hear from him today on what course of action he’s decided to take.Here’s a look at what else is happening today:
      Liz Cheney, the Republican vice-chair of the January 6 committee, will talk about defending democracy at Notre Dame University at 2.30pm eastern time.
      Washington’s fury towards Saudi Arabia will be the subject when Democratic representative Ro Khanna, an advocate of cracking down on Riyadh over its backing of the recent Opec+ oil production cut, speaks with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft at 12pm eastern time.
      Joe Biden is continuing his trip out west with a speech in Orange county, California, about “lowering costs for American families” and a stop in Oregon. There, the president will campaign for the state’s Democratic candidate for governor, who appears to be struggling polls. More

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      The January 6 panel makes it clear: American democracy needs accountability | Lloyd Green

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      The January 6 panel makes it clear: American democracy needs accountabilityLloyd GreenSlavery and civil war tested us 160 years ago. Again, we are being tested. Midterms are less than a month away Thursday’s House select committee was one like no other. Shortly after 1pm, Liz Cheney, the daughter of a vice-president and Republican grandees, warned that the US, as a constitutional republic, was in danger. Two-and-a-half hours later, seven Democrats and two Republicans unanimously voted to subpoena Donald Trump. In all likelihood, he will never appear. Regardless, history had again been made.“Why would Americans assume that our constitution and institutions of our Republic are invulnerable to another attack?” Cheney pondered.The real story of January 6 isn’t what Trump did – it’s what he didn’t | Moira DoneganRead moreTrump yearned to be a modern-day Caesar. He knew that he had lost the election, yet he persevered.White House staffer Alyssa Farah Griffin testified that a week after the election Trump blurted out, “Can you believe I lost to this effing guy?” After his defeat in the supreme court, a wrath-filled Trump remained unbowed.Cassidy Hutchinson, a White House aide and a deputy to Mark Meadows, said that he was “just raging”. Trump seethed, futilely grasping for a way out.“I don’t want people to know we lost, Mark,” he told Meadows, his chief of staff and Hutchinson’s boss. “This is embarrassing.”“Trump had a premeditated plan to declare that the election was fraudulent and stolen before election day,” Cheney said. This is not stuff of democracies, but of banana republics and strongmen.Right-wing stalwarts were there for Trump, offering aid and comfort along the way. “Let’s get right to the violence,” Roger Stone, the veteran Trump-hand, chuckled.Steve Bannon briefed Chinese associates over Trump’s election denial strategy. “And what Trump is going to do is just declare victory, right?” Bannon semi-asked, semi-stated.“He’s gonna declare victory, but that doesn’t mean he’s the winner, he’s just going to say he’s the winner.” Bannon later received a presidential pardon. He will be sentenced later this month for his contempt of Congress conviction and faces fraud charges in New York.Peter Navarro, another White House official, concocted the infamous “Green Bay Sweep”. His trial for contempt of Congress kicks off shortly. It’s a rogues’ gallery.Tom Fitton of the well-funded Judicial Watch helped script Trump’s defiance. In a 31 October 2020 email, he urged Trump to declare himself the winner. “We had an election today– – and I won,” Fitton’s email read. Fitton clamored for mass disenfranchisement too.His memo called for Trump to demand that only votes “counted by the election day deadline” be tallied. This time it went way beyond stripping minorities of their vote – a traditional but unstated Judicial Watch goal. Now he was gunning for urban moms and dads too, the bedrock of the Republican party of yesteryear.More broadly, the Republican party’s sedition wing has plenty of allies who wear suits and ties. Ginni Thomas and John Eastman, Justice Thomas’s wife and clerk, respectively, were definitely not alone. It’s not just about folks in camouflage.The armed mob had embraced Trump, and he loved them back. “I don’t care that they effing had weapons,” he muttered on January 6, according to Hutchinson. If blood were to be spilled and the constitution shredded, so be it. It was about clinging to power without legal justification.Documentary evidence presented by the committee revealed that some members of the Secret Service acted like modern-day praetorians, acting oblivious to threats posed by Trump’s supporters to the certification of the election.“Their plan is to kill people,” one message read. “Please please take this tip seriously and investigate further.” Members of the Secret Service knew that a storm was brewing but turned a blind eye. Their loyalty ran to Trump the man, not the office he occupied.“The vast weight of evidence presented so far has shown us that the central cause of January 6th was one man, Donald Trump,” Cheney made clear.Amid the hearing, the supreme court rejected Trump’s efforts to tamp down on the justice department’s investigation of his mishandling of presidential documents and classified records. Mar-a-Lago now looks ever more like a prison of the ex-game show host’s making, a custom-built gilded cage complete with gold leaf and dining room. Or a set of The Apprentice.After the 1787 constitutional convention, Benjamin Franklin observed that the US was a republic if we could “keep it”. Slavery and civil war tested us 160 years ago. Again, we are being tested. Midterms are less than a month away.
      Lloyd Green is a regular freelance contributor and served in the Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992
      TopicsUS Capitol attackOpinionUS politicsJanuary 6 hearingsDonald TrumpLiz CheneyDemocratsRepublicanscommentReuse this content More

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      Why Nevada will prove crucial in November: Politics Weekly America – podcast

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      There is a source of worry for the Democrats coming from the west of the country – Nevada. A state previously considered pretty blue is showing some signs of turning red, and Republicans are hoping to pounce.
      This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to Jon Ralston of the Nevada Independent about why Nevada could prove fatal to the Democrats if it flips red in November

      How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know

      Archive: CSPAN, NBC, Fox News Listen to Jonathan speaking to Jon Ronson about how Alex Jones became the conspiracy theorist he is today Buy your tickets to the Guardian’s Politics Weekly America Live event at 8pm GMT on 2 November Send your questions and feedback to podcasts@theguardian.com Help support the Guardian by going to theguardian.com/supportpodcasts More

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      Jan 6 hearing updates: panel votes to subpoena Donald Trump – as it happened

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      The January 6 committee has unanimously voted to subpoena Donald Trump, in a long-shot attempt to compel his testimony before the bipartisan congressional panel investigating his supporters’ attack on the US Capitol.“We have left no doubt knowing that Donald Trump led an effort to upend American democracy that directly resulted in the violence of January 6,” the committee’s chair Bennie Thompson said. “He is the one person at the center of the story of what happened on January 6. We want to hear from him.”Trump seems certain to challenge the subpoena by the panel, which has already taken testimony from a number of former top officials in his White House.Thompson said there was precedent for subpoenaing a president, and for him to provide testimony to Congress.“We also recognize that a subpoena to a former president is a serious and extraordinary action. That’s why we want to take this step in full view of the American people, especially because the subject matter issue is so important,” Thompson said before the committee voted.Today’s public hearing is likely to be the committee’s last, but the lawmakers are expected to release a report on the insurrection before the year’s end.The January 6 committee held what is likely to be its last public hearing, and made the case that Donald Trump, above anyone else, is to blame for the deadly attack on the US Capitol. Here are five takeaways from today’s meeting:
      In the final minutes of its two-and-a-half hour hearing, the panel subpoenaed the former president, with committee member Jamie Raskin saying they hope his testimony will clarify aspects of the attack they haven’t been able to uncover. Trump hasn’t yet responded to the summons, but don’t be surprised if he follows the practice of his most loyal former officials and fights it.
      The Secret Service is in for continued scrutiny, with committee member Pete Aguilar warning the panel may recall witnesses with knowledge of Trump’s allegedly explosive behavior on January 6, when his protective detail declined to drive him to the Capitol. Aguilar also warned “the committee is reviewing testimony regarding potential obstruction on this issue,” and to expect more details about this in its forthcoming report.
      Officials in the Trump White House looked to fire up his supporters ahead of the president’s speech on January 6 – then pled ignorance as the Secret Service and other security agencies began getting reports the president’s most ardent supporters were planning violence.
      Even as he plotted to stop Joe Biden from taking over the White House, Trump acted like a man who had lost re-election, signing an order to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan and Somalia before his term was over, which would have been a huge undertaking.
      All along, Trump planned to declare victory even before all the ballots were counted – a fact that one of his most extreme supporters Roger Stone stated openly to a documentary crew.
      The January 6 committee wasn’t today’s only story:
      The supreme court rejected Trump’s attempt to get justices to weigh in on his attempt to complicate the federal investigation into government secrets found at Mar-a-Lago.
      The United States and Saudi Arabia are waging a war of words over the Opec+ oil production cut and Washington’s claim Riyadh has aligned itself with Russia.
      The New York attorney general has warned Trump and his business are taking steps to undermine her lawsuit against them, and asked a judge to step in.
      Social security recipients are getting a big increase in monthly payments – but only because inflation is so high.
      CNN has lately been tracking who comes and goes from a federal courthouse in Washington, where a grand jury investigating the January 6 attack is meeting.The latest visitors: former vice-president Mike Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short and Kash Patel, a national security aide in the Trump White House, CNN reports.The two men had nothing to say when the network asked what brought them there, but it’s not surprising to hear that Short turned up. He was a foe of Trump’s plot to steal the 2020 election and cooperated with the January 6 committee.Patel, however, promoted various baseless lies about the election and is seen as loyal to the former president. Why subpoena Trump? Here’s what CNN was told by Jamie Raskin, a Democratic committee member:Jamie Raskin tells me 1/6 committee subpoenaed Trump because the panel has been unable to nail down some of Trump’s specific actions & conversations. Raskin said that’s because the witnesses closest to Trump, who would know these answers, have pled the 5th in committee interviews pic.twitter.com/kK6zsiXKrT— Annie Grayer (@AnnieGrayerCNN) October 13, 2022
      CNN has more from the January 6 committee’s Democratic chair Bennie Thompson about what he expects to result from lawmakers’ subpoena to Donald Trump:Talked with Bennie Thompson about the subpoena for Trump. He wouldn’t say if they would go to court to fight this. Asked if he really thought Trump would testify, he said: “Ask Donald Trump.” He says “no” subpoena for Pence pic.twitter.com/HxvhWUCfhv— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 13, 2022
      Punchbowl News says the subpoena issue may likely linger beyond the 8 November midterms:NEW – @BennieGThompson is expected to issue Trump subpoena next week. The response date probably won’t be until after Nov. 8 midterm elections, but date hasn’t been set yet— John Bresnahan (@bresreports) October 13, 2022
      And that’s it. With their vote to subpoena Donald Trump, the January 6 committee concluded what lawmakers have hinted is likely to be their last public presentation of evidence. But the group’s work is far from over. Trump may very well reject their order to testify, and head to court to fight it. Meanwhile, the lawmakers have a report to finish, and said they’re not done asking questions of the Secret Service and what it knew about Trump’s behavior and plans for that day.The committee’s mandate expires when the current Congress ends on the final day of the year, and at least two of their members will not be returning to their chamber. While they have not said definitively, the just-concluded hearing is likely the last time they will all be seen in public together – though there’s always the chance they schedule another hearing.The January 6 committee has unanimously voted to subpoena Donald Trump, in a long-shot attempt to compel his testimony before the bipartisan congressional panel investigating his supporters’ attack on the US Capitol.“We have left no doubt knowing that Donald Trump led an effort to upend American democracy that directly resulted in the violence of January 6,” the committee’s chair Bennie Thompson said. “He is the one person at the center of the story of what happened on January 6. We want to hear from him.”Trump seems certain to challenge the subpoena by the panel, which has already taken testimony from a number of former top officials in his White House.Thompson said there was precedent for subpoenaing a president, and for him to provide testimony to Congress.“We also recognize that a subpoena to a former president is a serious and extraordinary action. That’s why we want to take this step in full view of the American people, especially because the subject matter issue is so important,” Thompson said before the committee voted.Today’s public hearing is likely to be the committee’s last, but the lawmakers are expected to release a report on the insurrection before the year’s end.The January 6 committee has juxtaposed gripping footage of Democratic congressional leaders pleading for help as the Capitol is stormed with Trump administration officials making clear that the president could have quickly disseminated a message to condemn the rioters – but chose not to.The footage showed insurrectionists fighting with police and overrunning the Capitol, while top lawmakers including House speaker Nancy Pelosi and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer pled for reinforcements from the department of defense and the governor of Virginia.Led by Democrat Jamie Raskin, the committee then showed previously aired testimony by top administration officials saying that Trump could have quickly made a public address to call off rioters, and showed video footage of them listening to a message sent during the insurrection where he asked them – albeit tepidly – to go home.“It was President Lincoln at the start of the civil war in 1861, who best explained why democracy rejects insurrection. Insurrection, he said, is a war upon the first principle of popular government, the rights of the people. American democracy belongs to all the American people, not to a single man,” Raskin said, as he concluded his testimony.The supreme court has turned down an appeal from Donald Trump as he tries to frustrate the federal investigation into government secrets discovered at Mar-a-Lago.Breaking: Supreme Court denies Trump motion seeking to re-include 103 docs in the special master review— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) October 13, 2022
      Earlier this month, Trump asked the supreme court to allow a special master to review 100 classified documents as part of his efforts to exclude privileged information from the investigation. If granted, the special master could have excluded some classified files from being used in the federal case, where prosecutors may level charges against Trump for unlawfully keeping government documents after his term in the White House ended.Trump asks supreme court to intervene in Mar-a-Lago special master disputeRead moreThe hearing has resumed, with Democratic congressman Pete Aguilar addressing one of the most shocking revelations from its hearings over the summer.In June, former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson related hearing a story that Trump had lunged for the steering wheel of his vehicle as he demanded his unwilling Secret Service agents drive him to the Capitol just as it was being attacked by his supporters. Aguilar said the committee had uncovered additional evidence corroborating this story.“After concluding its review of the voluminous additional Secret Service communications from January 5, and January 6, the committee will be recalling witnesses and conducting further investigative depositions based on that material. Following that activity, we will provide even greater detail in our final report,” he said. “And I will also note this, the committee is reviewing testimony regarding potential obstruction on this issue, including testimony about advice given not to tell the committee about this specific topic. We will address this matter in our report.”The Secret Service has come under scrutiny for what it knew about the attack, particularly after it was revealed that the agency erased all its text messages from around the time of the insurrection in what it says was a pre-planned technology upgrade.The January 6 committee is now on a 10-minute recess after Democratic congressman Adam Schiff finished presenting evidence, which showed how the Secret Service documented numerous threats before January 6 – some of which were encouraged by Trump’s White House staff.“I got the based FIRED up,” White House adviser Jason Miller wrote in a text message to Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows. Miller included a link to a website where supporters of the president wrote comments like, “Gallows don’t require electricity”, “If the filthy commie maggots try to push their fraud through, there will be hell to pay”, and “Our lawmakers in Congress can leave one of two ways: one, in a body bag, two after rightfully certifying Trump the winner.”“If I had seen something of that nature I would have said, we got to flag this for Secret Service or something of that nature,” Miller told the committee’s investigators when they asked him about the texts. Schiff said that despite testimony from some White House staffers and Secret Service agents that they had no warnings of violence before January 6, “evidence strongly suggests that this testimony is not credible.” He went on to detail how the Secret Service was monitoring online threats ahead of the joint session of Congress to certify Biden’s election win, including against vice-president Mike Pence. One threatening post said would be “a dead man walking if he doesn’t do the right thing”.Schiff said Trump was able to hear how angry his supporters were the night before the insurrection, when he opened the door in the White House’s Oval Office and heard them gathering a few blocks away.“The president knew the crowd was angry because he had stoked that anger. He knew that they believe that the election had been rigged and stolen because he had told them falsely that it had been rigged and stolen,” Schiff said. “And by the time he incited that angry mob to march on the Capitol, he knew they were armed and dangerous. All the better to stop the peaceful transfer of power.”The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell has confirmed that once the January 6 committee finishes publicly presenting evidence today, it will vote to subpoena Donald Trump:New: Confirming NBC that the Jan. 6 committee plans to subpoena Trump today after the end of presentations @GuardianUS— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) October 13, 2022
      Now led by Democratic congressman Adam Schiff, the committee is shifting into records newly obtained from the Secret Service, which show agents were receiving tips about plans for violence on January 6.According to one tip detailed by Schiff, “the Proud Boys plan to march armed into DC. They think that they will have a large enough group to march into DC armed, the source reported, and will outnumber the police so they can’t be stopped. The source went on to say their plan is to literally kill people. Please take this tip seriously and investigate further.”“The Secret Service had advance information more than 10 days beforehand regarding the Proud Boys planning for January 6. We know now, of course, that the Proud Boys and others did lead the assault on our Capitol building,” Schiff said. At its hearing, the January 6 committee plans to vote to subpoena Donald Trump, NBC News reports:SCOOP: J6 Cmte currently plans to vote to subpoena fmr Pres Trump during today’s hearing, sources familiar w/ their plans tell @NBCNews. Members want to put the move in the public record despite acknowledging how unlikely it’d be for him to comply – w/ @haleytalbotnbc— Ali Vitali (@alivitali) October 13, 2022
      The hearing is ongoing, with lawmakers outlining various ways Trump attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in which Joe Biden won the White House.Despite all his bluster and scheming, the committee, now led by Republican Adam Kinzinger, is arguing that Trump was well aware he had lost.Case in point: eight days after the 3 November election, he issued an order for the withdrawal of American troops from Somalia and Afghanistan before Joe Biden was to take office in late January. The task would have been a huge, potentially unfeasible logistical undertaking, and the committee played testimony showing several defense staffers viewed it as a dangerous move that would have undercut allies globally.“Knowing that he had lost and that he had only weeks left in office, President Trump rushed to complete his unfinished business,” Kinzinger said. “Keep in mind, the order was for an immediate withdrawal. It would have been catastrophic, and yet President Trump signed the order. These are the highly consequential actions of a president who knows his term will shortly end.”Biden ended up ordering the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, which was completed later in 2021. As for Somalia, Trump did order a withdrawal, but Biden reversed it last year.Biden reverses Trump withdrawal of US army trainers from SomaliaRead moreRoger Stone has made an appearance. The Trump ally and Richard Nixon fan is shown, in footage obtained from a documentary team, advocating for Trump to declare victory before the ballots had been counted.“The key thing to do is to claim victory,” Stone says. “Possession is nine-tenths of the law. No, we won, fuck you. Sorry, over. You’re wrong, fuck you.”The committee then showed footage of his deposition before lawmakers, where he refused to answer questions.“Do you believe the violence on January 6 was justified?” an investigator asks. “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully declined to answer your question on the basis of the Fifth Amendment,” Stone replies.The committee then went on to outline Stone’s ties to people who violently attacked the Capitol, including members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, both groups facing seditious conspiracy charges for their role in the insurrection.Democratic congresswoman Zoe Lofgren has now taken over, and is airing evidence showing how Trump ignored the advice of his advisers to encourage more mail-in voting, and planned well in advance to declare victory even before all the ballots had been counted.“We now know more about President Trump’s intention for election night. The evidence shows that his false victory speech was planned well in advance before any votes had been counted. It was a premeditated plan by the President to declare victory no matter what the actual result was. He made a plan to stay in office before election day,” Lofgren said.The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell reports that this hearing will be different from previous sessions, in that the committee could vote on how to proceed further:New: Jan. 6 committee chair Bennie Thompson says today is actually a “business meeting” — meaning the panel may take votes on next investigative steps— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) October 13, 2022
      From its start in June, the January 6 committee has distinguished itself from other congressional proceedings through its tight scripting and lack of votes or back-and-forth between lawmakers. The former has allowed it to clearly present evidence and testimony to a viewing audience, but it seems today could be different. Liz Cheney, the Republican co-chair of the committee, just made clear what the message of today’s hearing will be: “The central cause of January 6 was one man, Donald Trump, who many others followed.”“None of this would have happened without him. He was personally and substantially involved in all of it,” Cheney continued. “Today we will focus on President Trump’s state of mind, his intent, his motivations, and how he spurred others to do his bidding. And how another January 6 could happen again, if we do not take necessary action to prevent it.”Other things Trump was a central cause of: Cheney losing the Republican primary in Wyoming two months ago, ensuring she will not return to Congress next year.The January 6 committee’s Democratic chair Bennie Thompson has started off the hearing by making the case that its work is not politically motivated, but rather a bipartisan attempt to get to the bottom of a shocking act of violence targeting a pillar of America’s democracy.“Over the course of these hearings, the evidence has proven that there was a multi-part plan led by former President Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 election,” the Mississippi lawmaker said.He appealed to the public to view the committee’s work as separate from politics.“We understood that some people watching those proceedings would wrongly assume that the committee’s investigation was a partisan exercise. That’s why we asked those who was skeptical of our work, to simply to listen, to listen to the evidence, to hear the testimony with an open minded and to let the facts speak for themselves before reaching any judgment,” Thompson said.He noted that much of the committee’s most revealing testimony has come from former officials in Trump’s Republican administration, campaign workers, or GOP officials at the state level.“When you look back at what has come out through this committee’s work, the most striking fact is that all this evidence come almost entirely from Republicans,” Thompson said. More

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      in Elections

      New York attorney general files motion to stop Trump’s ‘continued fraudulent practices’ – live

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      New York attorney general Letitia James today accused Donald Trump and the Trump organization of trying to evade her investigation into their business practices by taking steps to move assets out of her reach and avoiding her attempts to serve court documents.James last month announced a civil fraud suit against the former president and three of his children over accusations they falsely inflated Trump’s net worth to enrich themselves and secure loans on better terms. The suit added to the mounting legal threats against the former president, who is also under federal investigation for his role in the January 6 insurrection and the government secrets founds at his Mar-a-Lago resort.In a just-released statement, James said she has asked a judge to approve several steps “to stop Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization’s ongoing fraudulent scheme and ensure funds are available to satisfy any disgorgement award.”“Since we filed this sweeping lawsuit last month, Donald Trump and the Trump Organization have continued those same fraudulent practices and taken measures to evade responsibility. Today, we are seeking an immediate stop to these actions because Mr. Trump should not get to play by different rules,” James said.Among the measures James said Trump and his business have taken is incorporating a new company in Delaware on the day the lawsuit was filed. The district attorney said the Trumps could move their assets to that business from New York, in a bid to stymie her case. James wants the court to block any such transfers, as well as appoint an independent monitor that would track Trump’s financial disclosures.She also asked for permission to serve court documents to Donald and Eric Trump electronically “as both defendants and their counsels have refused to accept service of the complaints for almost a month.”New York civil fraud suit could bring down the Trump OrganizationRead moreThe Guardian’s David Smith has a look at what to expect today during what is likely to be the last public hearing of the January 6 committee, which will focus squarely on Trump’s actions as the Capitol was attacked:The ninth and possibly final hearing of the congressional panel investigating the January 6 attack on the US Capitol will focus on Donald Trump’s “state of mind” as the insurrection unfolded.The House of Representatives select committee will reconvene in Washington at 1pm on Thursday after a two-and-a-half month break, and is expected to present new video footage showing efforts to respond to the violence as it was unfolding.“There is going to be some discussion of events that took place prior to election day and there’s going to be some looking at events that took place after January 6,” said an aide to the committee, who did not wish to be named. “We’re going to bring a particular focus on the president’s state of mind and his involvement in these events as they unfold.“So what you’re going to see is a synthesis of some evidence we’ve already presented with that new, never-before-seen information to illustrate Donald Trump’s centrality to the scheme from the time prior to the election.”January 6 panel’s next hearing will focus on Trump’s ‘state of mind’ during attack Read moreNew York attorney general Letitia James today accused Donald Trump and the Trump organization of trying to evade her investigation into their business practices by taking steps to move assets out of her reach and avoiding her attempts to serve court documents.James last month announced a civil fraud suit against the former president and three of his children over accusations they falsely inflated Trump’s net worth to enrich themselves and secure loans on better terms. The suit added to the mounting legal threats against the former president, who is also under federal investigation for his role in the January 6 insurrection and the government secrets founds at his Mar-a-Lago resort.In a just-released statement, James said she has asked a judge to approve several steps “to stop Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization’s ongoing fraudulent scheme and ensure funds are available to satisfy any disgorgement award.”“Since we filed this sweeping lawsuit last month, Donald Trump and the Trump Organization have continued those same fraudulent practices and taken measures to evade responsibility. Today, we are seeking an immediate stop to these actions because Mr. Trump should not get to play by different rules,” James said.Among the measures James said Trump and his business have taken is incorporating a new company in Delaware on the day the lawsuit was filed. The district attorney said the Trumps could move their assets to that business from New York, in a bid to stymie her case. James wants the court to block any such transfers, as well as appoint an independent monitor that would track Trump’s financial disclosures.She also asked for permission to serve court documents to Donald and Eric Trump electronically “as both defendants and their counsels have refused to accept service of the complaints for almost a month.”New York civil fraud suit could bring down the Trump OrganizationRead moreA big increase in monthly social security payments might sound like a good thing, but keep in mind, the government is doing it only because inflation is so high.And today began with word that the consumer price wave didn’t subside much in September. Year-on-year, prices rose 8.2%, below the high of 9.1% in June but not much of a change from the 8.3% level in August. Monthly price growth actually accelerated in September, led by costs for food and, more worryingly, housing, one of the most potent contributors to inflation overall.There will be a few consequences to this report. First of all, it will likely reinforce the Federal Reserve’s conviction that it needs to continue raising interest rates to quell demand and stop prices from rising so much. But it takes time to know the impact of rate increases, and the worry is that the central bank will overdo it and tighten conditions so much that the economy heads into a recession. Indeed, the head of the largest US investment bank warned as much earlier this week, though the Fed is far from the only threat to the economy right now.Then there’s the impact on president Joe Biden and the Democratic party at large. As the saying goes, the buck stops with him, and polls have made clear voters care deeply about the state of the economy – and aren’t a huge fan of his handling of it. Consider this one from Monmouth University released earlier this month, which found inflation to be the top priority among voters surveyed, and Biden getting low marks for his handling of it.If the 8 November midterms result in a wipeout for Democrats in Congress and statehouses nationwide, don’t be surprised if that dynamic turns out to be the reason why. US is headed for a recession, says head of JP Morgan Chase bank: ‘This is serious’Read moreGood morning, US politics blog readers. Americans don’t have many nice things to say about the record streak of inflation that has beset the economy since the start of last year, but for retirees, it’s come with one benefit: larger social security payments. The government announced today it would raise monthly payments from the retirement program by 8.7%, its largest increase in 40 years, to offset rising prices for food, gasoline and other essentials. Older people tend to be reliable voters, so this may have knock-on effects for the midterms, where inflation is seen as a liability for president Joe Biden and the Democrats running nationwide to help him carry out his agenda.Today is going to be a busy one!
      The January 6 committee will hold its ninth and potentially last public hearing at 1 pm eastern time today, focusing on what Donald Trump knew before and during the deadly insurrection at the Capitol.
      Consumer price data just released shows inflation remaining stubbornly high in September, bad news for the US economy and for Wall Street especially.
      Biden is in Los Angeles, where he will promote his infrastructure law announced last year and fundraise for Democrats. More

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      White House says ‘outcompeting China and restraining Russia’ top Biden foreign policy aims – as it happened

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      The Biden administration’s long awaited national security strategy says outcompeting China, and restraining Russia’s aggression as its war in Ukraine war progresses, will be its key goals for the coming year.The 48-page document, launched Wednesday after a number of delays as the White House adjusted to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine, talks up the president’s resolve to build international alliances to stand up for democracy.At a press briefing accompanying its release, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the war hadn’t “fundamentally altered” Joe Biden’s approach to foreign policy, but has strengthened the importance of, and his desire to work with international partners:Sullivan said:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}[The strategy] presents in living color the key elements of our approach, the emphasis on allies, the importance of strengthening the hand of the democratic world and standing up for our fellow democracies and for democratic values.
      What the nuclear threats and saber rattling we’ve seen from Russia remind us of is just what a significant and seriously dangerous adversary Russia is, not just to the US but to a world that is seeking peace and stability, and now has seen that flagrantly disrupted by this invasion and now by all of the saber rattling.Being able to watch how Ukraine unfolded, have the terms of geopolitical competition sharpened up over the course of the past few months, and also being able to put on display how our strategy works in practice – I think all of those serve a good purpose in terms of giving life to the document that we’re releasing today.Regarding China, the strategy highlights Biden’s concerns that Beijing was attempting to “layer authoritarian governance with a revisionist foreign policy”.In his preview of the policy Wednesday, Sullivan added:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The People’s Republic of China harbors the intention and, increasingly, the capacity to reshape the international order in favor of one that tilts the global playing field to its benefit, even as the US remains committed to managing the competition between our countries responsibly.
      [The Biden administration] is looking at ways that the US can more effectively approach our trade policy with China to ensure that we are achieving the strategic priorities the president has laid out, which is the strongest possible American industrial and innovation base and a level playing field for American workers.Sullivan is scheduled to deliver further remarks this afternoon at an event hosted by the Center for a New American Security and the Georgetown University Walsh school of foreign service.That’s all from our live politics blog for today. Thanks for joining us.Here’s what we followed:
      Joe Biden’s foreign policy objectives were laid out in his administration’s long awaited national security strategy, a 48-page document released by the White House this morning. Outcompeting China, curbing Russian aggression, and building an international alliance to do both are the main goals.
      National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the US was better placed than any other nation to seize what he called a “decisive decade” that will determine the fate of the free world. “The actions we take now will shape whether this decisive decade is an age of conflict and discord are the beginning of a more prosperous and stable future,” he said.
      Biden dedicated the Camp Hale continental divide national monument during a visit to Vail, Colorado. The proclamation preserves the lands to “honor our nation’s veterans, Indigenous people, and their legacy,” the president said.
      Biden made clear he’s willing to retaliate against Saudi Arabia for backing the Opec+ oil production cut, but hasn’t yet said what measures he supports. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spoke of unspecified “consequences” for the Saudis, but not for some time.
      Mitt Romney is staying out of the Senate race in Utah, declining to endorse his Republican Senate counterpart Mike Lee, or independent challenger Evan McMullin, both of whom he considers friends.
      Tulsi Gabbard, who yesterday announced she was leaving the Democratic party, is heading to New Hampshire to campaign for rightwing Republican Senate candidate Don Bolduc.
      Political polling by telephone has become so difficult it may soon become impossible, The New York Times warns.
      Rightwing InfoWars host Alex Jones must pay $965m to families of victims and those he hurt by calling the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting a hoax, a jury has decided.The decision concludes his second defamation trial, in Waterbury, Connecticut, less than 20 miles from Newtown, where a man shot 26 children and teachers dead in 2012.WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) — Jury says Alex Jones should pay $965 million to people who suffered from his lies about the Sandy Hook school massacre.— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) October 12, 2022
      Donald Trump will have to answer questions under oath next week in a defamation lawsuit lodged by a writer who says he raped her in the mid-1990s, a judge ruled Wednesday.US district judge Lewis Kaplan rejected a request by Trump’s lawyers that the planned testimony be delayed. The deposition is now scheduled for 19 October.The decision came in a lawsuit brought by E Jean Carroll, a longtime advice columnist for Elle magazine, who says Trump raped her in an upscale Manhattan department store’s dressing room. Trump has denied it. Carroll is scheduled to be deposed on Friday.Read more:Trump must sit for deposition in lawsuit brought by rape accuser E Jean CarrollRead moreA quick summary of Karine Jean-Pierre’s answer when she was asked this afternoon about Joe Biden’s earlier “we will take action” comment about Saudi Arabia, for pushing Opec+ to slash oil production: there will be consequences, but not for some time.The White House press secretary was asked during a “gaggle” with reporters on Air Force One what the president mean by “action”, a remark he did not expand on as he departed Washington DC en route to Colorado:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}As he said this morning, when the House and the Senate get back we’ll discuss and make decisions in a deliberate way. But he was very clear there will be consequences. We believe the decision that Opec+ made last week was a mistake.
      We’re going to review where we are. We’ll be watching closely over the coming weeks and months. There’s going to be consultation with our allies, there’s going to be consultation with Congress, and decisions will be made in a deliberate way.
      We want to be very deliberate about this. And that is going to take some time. I don’t have a timeline for you.The US is better placed than any other nation to seize what White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan says is a “decisive decade” that will determine the fate of the free world.Sullivan is speaking at Georgetown university, where he’s putting flesh on the bones of the Biden administration’s national security strategy, released earlier today.Tune in now: A Conversation with National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. https://t.co/kNmLfMVPn2— Georgetown SFS (@georgetownsfs) October 12, 2022
      Outcompeting China, curbing Russian aggression in Ukraine and elsewhere, and building a global coalition to tackle those issues, are Biden’s key policy objectives for the year, Sullivan says:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The post-cold war era is over and the competition is under way between the major powers to shape what comes next. The US, we believe, is better positioned than any other nation in the world to seize this moment to help set the rules shore up the norms and advance the values that will define the world we want to live in.
      [The strategy] details the president’s vision of a free, open, prosperous and secure international order. And it offers a roadmap for seizing this decisive decade to advance America’s vital interests, position America and our allies to outpace our competitors, and build broad effective coalition’s to tackle shared challenges.
      The matters laid out in this document and the execution of it do not only belong to the US government, they belong to everyone who shares this vision worldwide.
      And the stakes could not be higher. The actions we take now will shape whether this decisive decade is an age of conflict and discord are the beginning of a more prosperous and stable future.Sullivan is being careful to stress Biden’s foreign policy strategy as a partnership:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}If there’s anything that is a core hallmark of Joe Biden’s approach to the world, it is an investment in America’s allies.
      Even if our democratic allies and partners don’t agree on everything, they are aligned with us, and so are many countries that do not embrace democratic institutions, but nevertheless depend upon and help sustain a rules-based international system.
      They don’t want to see it vanish and they know that we are the world’s best bet to defend it.
      That’s why the second strategic focus of President Biden’s approach is mobilizing the broadest possible coalition of nations to leverage our collective influence. Our goal is not to force our partners to fall in line with us on every issue.The White House has released a fact sheet about Joe Biden’s unveiling of the Camp Hale continental divide national monument in Vail, Colorado, a little later this afternoon.The proclamation of the monument “will honor our nation’s veterans, Indigenous people, and their legacy by protecting this Colorado landscape, while supporting jobs and America’s outdoor recreation economy,” the press release says.I’m headed to Camp Hale, Colorado.Because today, I’m declaring the Camp Hale-Continental Divide area a national monument in honor of our nation’s veterans, Indigenous people, and their legacy.— President Biden (@POTUS) October 12, 2022
      The monument “preserves and protects the mountains and valleys where the US Army’s 10th Mountain Division prepared for their brave service that ultimately brought [the second world war] to a close”.The division’s actions in the Italian Alps using skills acquired in training in Camp Hale’s rugged mountains included a daring nighttime mission scaling a 1,500ft cliff, and ultimately pushing back elite Axis forces. Today, President Biden is traveling to Colorado to establish the Camp Hale – Continental Divide National Monument.This action will honor our nation’s veterans and Indigenous people, support jobs, and protect an iconic outdoor space. https://t.co/DmR5yDr1QG— The White House (@WhiteHouse) October 12, 2022
      White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has been expanding on Joe Biden’s assessment of Vladimir Putin as a “rational actor who has miscalculated significantly” Russia’s prospects of occupying Ukraine.Jean-Pierre was speaking to reporters aboard a bumpy flight on Air Force One to Colorado, explaining why it was it was an error on the Russian president’s part:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}If you look at how strong the Nato alliance is, he thought he would break that up, and it was a miscalculation because what he has seen as a stronger Nato, what he is seeing as a strong west, and what he’s seeing is a coalition that we have never seen before as far as the strength of the countries coming together to support Ukraine.
      He miscalculated what his aggression, what his war that he created against Ukraine, would lead to and and we’ve seen that he has become a pariah.But she would not be drawn on specifically why Biden thought Putin was “rational”:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}I’m going to let the president’s words speak for themselves. He is a rational actor who has miscalculated.Read more:Putin ‘totally miscalculated’ Russia’s ability to occupy Ukraine, Biden saysRead moreThe Biden administration’s long awaited national security strategy says outcompeting China, and restraining Russia’s aggression as its war in Ukraine war progresses, will be its key goals for the coming year.The 48-page document, launched Wednesday after a number of delays as the White House adjusted to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine, talks up the president’s resolve to build international alliances to stand up for democracy.At a press briefing accompanying its release, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the war hadn’t “fundamentally altered” Joe Biden’s approach to foreign policy, but has strengthened the importance of, and his desire to work with international partners:Sullivan said:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}[The strategy] presents in living color the key elements of our approach, the emphasis on allies, the importance of strengthening the hand of the democratic world and standing up for our fellow democracies and for democratic values.
      What the nuclear threats and saber rattling we’ve seen from Russia remind us of is just what a significant and seriously dangerous adversary Russia is, not just to the US but to a world that is seeking peace and stability, and now has seen that flagrantly disrupted by this invasion and now by all of the saber rattling.Being able to watch how Ukraine unfolded, have the terms of geopolitical competition sharpened up over the course of the past few months, and also being able to put on display how our strategy works in practice – I think all of those serve a good purpose in terms of giving life to the document that we’re releasing today.Regarding China, the strategy highlights Biden’s concerns that Beijing was attempting to “layer authoritarian governance with a revisionist foreign policy”.In his preview of the policy Wednesday, Sullivan added:.css-knbk2a{height:1em;width:1.5em;margin-right:3px;vertical-align:baseline;fill:#C70000;}The People’s Republic of China harbors the intention and, increasingly, the capacity to reshape the international order in favor of one that tilts the global playing field to its benefit, even as the US remains committed to managing the competition between our countries responsibly.
      [The Biden administration] is looking at ways that the US can more effectively approach our trade policy with China to ensure that we are achieving the strategic priorities the president has laid out, which is the strongest possible American industrial and innovation base and a level playing field for American workers.Sullivan is scheduled to deliver further remarks this afternoon at an event hosted by the Center for a New American Security and the Georgetown University Walsh school of foreign service.We’ll hear from Joe Biden in Vail, Colorado, later this afternoon as he talks up America’s outdoor spaces on the first leg of a three-state tour of the west.But the main purpose of his odyssey is to promote his administration’s accomplishments and rally for Democratic candidates in the upcoming midterms, now less than four weeks away.Biden’s first stop is to designate his administration’s first national monument at the behest of Democratic Colorado senator Michael Bennet, the Associated Press reports. Bennet is in a competitive reelection race.The president later today heads for California, where he will hold two events promoting legislative successes including the bipartisan Infrastructure and Chips acts, and headline a fundraiser for the House Democrats’ campaign arm.In Los Angeles, he’ll get a close-up look at the racism scandal engulfing the city commission. On Tuesday, the president called for the resignation of three Los Angeles city council members who were caught on tape making racist comments in a meeting last year.Then he will appear on Monday in Oregon, where Democrats’ grip on the governor’s mansion in Salem is under threat. The party is also fighting several close congressional races in the state.“We’ve been very clear that the president is going to go out, the vice president is going to go out,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in her Tuesday briefing from the White House.Talking of Jean-Pierre, she is set to deliver a briefing to reporters soon aboard Air Force One en route to Colorado.When the panel investigating the January 6 attack convenes tomorrow for what’s likely to be its final public hearing, expect to learn more about what Donald Trump knew both ahead of the insurrection, and while it was happening. Meanwhile, president Joe Biden has made clear he’s willing to retaliate against Saudi Arabia for backing the Opec+ oil production cut, but hasn’t yet said what measures he supports.Here’s what else has happened today:
      Mitt Romney is staying out of the Senate race in Utah, declining to endorse his Republican Senate counterpart Mike Lee, or independent challenger Evan McMullin, both of whom he considers friends.
      Tulsi Gabbard, who yesterday announced she was leaving the Democratic party, is heading to New Hampshire to campaign for rightwing Republican Senate candidate Don Bolduc.
      Political polling by telephone has become so difficult it may soon become impossible, The New York Times warns. More

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      Democrats issue fresh ultimatum to Saudi Arabia over oil production

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      Democrats issue fresh ultimatum to Saudi Arabia over oil productionMembers of Congress raise prospect of one-year sales ban unless kingdom reverses Opec+ decision to cut output Democrats in the US Congress have issued a fresh ultimatum to Saudi Arabia, giving the kingdom weeks to reverse an Opec+ decision to roll back oil production or face a potential one-year freeze on all arms sales.The threat came as Joe Biden reiterated his pledge to take action over Riyadh’s decision last week to cut oil output by 2m barrels a day, which Democrats have said would help “fuel Vladimir Putin’s war machine” and hurt American consumers at the petrol pump.The White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, told reporters the US president was also looking at a possible halt in arms sales as part of a broader re-evaluation of the US relationship with Saudi Arabia, but that no move was imminent.On Capitol Hill, anger with the Saudi move was far more palpable, as was the desire for swift and specific retribution for what has been seen as a stunning blunder by a key ally in the Middle East.The tensions with Washington and vow to “rebalance” relations between the two countries could have ripple effects far beyond petrol prices, from determining the future of an apparent emerging alliance between Russia and the Saudi heir, negotiations over Iran, and Moscow’s financial strength in its continuing assault on Ukraine.Some analysts have pointed out that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman might have been seeking to tip the scales of next month’s critical midterm elections in Republicans’ favour, but Democrats downplayed the allegation that Riyadh was seeking to interfere in the polls.Instead, Democratic lawmakers emphasised that Prince Mohammed’s move bolstered Russia and would ultimately harm all US consumers in what they said was a brash betrayal after decades of support from Washington.“We provide so much not just in weapons, but in defence, cooperation and joint defence initiatives to the Saudis. They get almost 73% of their arms from the United States,” said Ro Khanna, a Democratic congressman from California and longtime critic of the kingdom.“If it weren’t for our technicians, their airplanes literally wouldn’t fly … we literally are responsible for their entire air force.“What galls so many of us in Congress in the ingratitude.”Richard Blumenthal, the Democratic senator from Connecticut who is working with Khanna on the proposed legislation to cut sales, also pointed to broader security concerns.“We are selling highly sensitive technology, advanced technology, to a country that has aligned itself with an adversary – Russia – that is committing terrorist war crimes in Ukraine,” he said. “So there’s a moral imperative, but also a national security imperative.”He pointed specifically to sales of Patriot and anti-missile systems, air-to-air missiles, advanced helicopters, jet fighters, radar and air defences.“These continued sales pose a national security threat, and I am hopeful that the president will act immediately … and exercise his power on those sales,” he said.Blumenthal also suggested his proposed legislation was serving as a stick to prod Riyadh into action.“We hope that this legislation will provide an impetus for the Saudis to reconsider this and reverse,” he said. “There’s still time. The oil supply cuts don’t take effect until November.”If the Saudis did not reverse course, Blumenthal suggested the impact of defence cuts on US jobs and companies would be negligible.Any decision would likely have a ripple effect among other allies, including the UK and France, who are significant defence suppliers to Saudi Arabia.“There are issues of interoperability, of different weapon systems,” Blumenthal said. A freeze in US sales “will have an effect that could be supplemented by decisions by other countries. Certainly. They’re impacted by the economic effects of … oil supply cuts. They will make their own decisions … our allies like the UK and France may wish to join.”There was little evidence that tensions with Washington were having an effect on Prince Mohammed. A Saudi decree on Wednesday appointed an official alleged to have been involved in the cover-up of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post columnist who was murdered by Saudi agents, as the president of the country’s counter-terrorism court.Dawn, a human rights group founded by Khashoggi, said the kingdom had also appointed other detectives and prosecutors who are loyal to the crown prince to serve as judges in the court.The appointments followed the arrest and removal of at least nine prominent judges by the State Security Agency in April, the group said..It is not clear whether the Democrats would be able to garner enough Republican support to pass legislation once Congress is back in session next month, but Blumenthal said he had reached out to Republican colleagues who were “receptive” and “favourable in remarks that there need to be consequences” for Saudi actions.The comments underscore that, while the his administration will ultimately determine the US stance on Saudi Arabia, Biden is facing considerable pressure from allies in Congress to move beyond rhetoric and take a tougher stance against the kingdom.Robert Menendez, the Democratic chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, suggested in an interview on MSNBC on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia had little choice but to re-evaluate its Opec+ decision if it wanted to maintain its security against regional foes.“Who are they going to rely upon to have greater security from Iran, which is an existential threat, than the United States? Russia? Russia’s in bed with Iran,” he said.“The bottom line is, Russia is not the bulwark against Iran … they have to understand that their actions have consequences.”TopicsUS foreign policyUS CongressOpecSaudi ArabiaMiddle East and north AfricaUS politicsDemocratsnewsReuse this content More

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      Sources in Russian analyst’s Trump dossier fabricated, prosecutors argue

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      Sources in Russian analyst’s Trump dossier fabricated, prosecutors argueIgor Danchenko, who played a vital role in creating the Steele dossier, has been indicted on five counts of lying to the FBI A Russian analyst who played a major role in the creation of a flawed dossier about Donald Trump fabricated one of his own sources and concealed the identity of another when interviewed by the FBI, prosecutors said Tuesday.The allegations were aired during opening statements in the trial of Igor Danchenko, who is indicted on five counts of making false statements to the FBI.US justice department says Trump didn’t turn over all documents – reportRead moreThe FBI interviewed Danchenko on multiple occasions in 2017 as it tried to corroborate allegations in what became known as the “Steele dossier”.That dossier, by the British spy Christopher Steele – commissioned by Democrats during the 2016 presidential campaign – included allegations of contact between the Trump campaign and Russian government officials, as well as allegations that the Russians may have held compromising information over Trump in the form of videos showing him engaged in salacious sexual activity in a Moscow hotel.Specifically, prosecutors say, Danchenko lied when he said he obtained some information in an anonymous phone call from a man he believed to be Sergei Millian, a former head of the Russian American Chamber of Commerce.The prosecutor Michael Keilty told jurors in US district court in Alexandria that Danchenko had never spoken with Millian and that phone records showed he had never received an anonymous phone call at the time Danchenko claimed it occurred.Prosecutors also say Danchenko lied when he said he never “talked” with a man named Charles Dolan about the allegations contained in the dossier. Prosecutors say there is evidence that Danchenko “spoke with Mr Dolan over email” about very specific items that showed up in the dossier.The FBI needed to know that Dolan was an important source for Danchenko, Keilty said, because Dolan is a Democratic operative who has worked on the presidential campaign of every Democratic candidate since Jimmy Carter, and thus would have had motivation to fabricate or embellish allegations against Trump.“Those lies mattered,” Keilty said.But Danchenko’s attorney, Danny Onorato, told jurors that his client had been completely truthful with the FBI.He pointed out that Danchenko had never said he was certain that Millian was the source of the anonymous call but that he had good reason to believe it. The government’s case required jurors to become “mind readers” to assess Danchenko’s subjective belief about the source of the phone call, Onorato said.And while phone records might not show a call, Onorato said, the government had no idea whether a call could have been placed with a mobile app rather than a traditional telephone provider. Indeed, Onorato said, it made more sense that such a call would have occurred using an internet app because so many of them conceal the source of the call, and the caller wanted to be anonymous.As for the allegations about his discussions with Dolan, Onorato said, Danchenko had answered the question truthfully because the two had not “talked” – but rather had conducted a written exchange. If the FBI had wanted to know about email exchanges, it should have asked a different question, Onorato said.“The law doesn’t let you rewrite the dictionary,” Onorato said.Keilty, in his opening, acknowledged to jurors that evidence would show the FBI made errors in conducting its investigations, but he said that shouldn’t exonerate Danchenko.“A bank robber doesn’t get a pass just because the security guard was asleep,” Keilty said.The first prosecution witness was the FBI analyst Brian Auten, who testified that information from the Steele dossier had been used to support a surveillance warrant against a Trump campaign official, Carter Page.Under questioning from Durham, Auten testified that the dossier had been used to bolster the surveillance application even though the FBI couldn’t corroborate its allegations.Auten said the FBI had checked with other government agencies to see if they had corroboration but nothing had come back. Auten and other FBI agents had even met with Steele in the United Kingdom in 2016 and offered him as much as $1m if he could supply corroboration for the allegations in the dossier, but none had been provided.Danchenko is the third person to be prosecuted by the special counsel John Durham, who was appointed to investigate the origins of “Crossfire Hurricane” – the designation given to the FBI’s 2016 investigation into Trump’s Russia connections. It is also the first of Durham’s cases that delves deeply into the origins of the dossier, which Trump derided as fake news and a political witch-hunt.TopicsFBIDonald TrumpDemocratsRussiaUS elections 2016US politicsnewsReuse this content More